19th-century Biblical scholars identified Arjoun as "Argana" where in 854 BCE the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser II fought the army of Hadadezer in the Battle of Qarqar.[3] Other sources insist that Argana was located somewhere north of modern-day Hama.[4] An Ancient Roman milestone was found in the village, suggesting it was situated on a Roman road.[5] In his visit to Syria, James Silk Buckingham described Arjoun in the early 19th century as a small village lying below an artificial mound. At the mound's summit was the tomb of a local sheikh surrounded by a few buildings.[6]